photo credit:  Evan El-Amin // Shutterstock

President Trump addressed the nation for the first time from his oval office on Tuesday night. Trump spoke for about 10 minutes total about illegal immigrants and how violent they are, hoping that this fear would lead us all to agree on a $5.7 billion wall between the U.S. and Mexico. He even added that rich people get walls and fences around their homes, so this is the same thing. Informing us that rich people don’t hate the people outside the wall, but want to “protect the people inside the wall.”

Trump says the wall will stop the “criminal gangs, drug smugglers and human traffickers.” Claiming the wall will keep us safer than ever. His administration is asking for more agents, immigration judges and bed space to process the immigrants coming in. They are also asking congress to close boarder security loopholes so that illegal immigrant children can be sent back home.

At the request of the Democrats, he says, the wall will be steel. And Trump continues to say that the wall will be paid for “indirectly” by Mexico. Apparently we have a new trade deal with them.

Trump is basically using fear to scare the country into giving him his wall. If you ask me, we need to stop the mass shootings that have been happening at an increasing rate, all done by people who live here in the U.S. Yet, no gun reform has started.

In reply to the President, Democrats then took the stand to tell Trump, our country does not “govern by temper tantrum.” We all want safer borders, but we can do so and still honor our values as people. The Democrats suggest we build up the infrastructure, install new tech to scan cars and trucks for drugs, hire the right personal to secure the border. They ask for Trump to re-opens the government and have an actually talk with them about what can be done.

Written by Clarke Jones